Gray water tank leak

[RockDodger]

My gray water tank seems to be leaking right where the outlet pipe goes into the tank. It's just dripping at this point, but there is so much sealer gunk around the joint I can' see how bad it is. Is there a safe way to remove all that gunk without wrecking the joint itself. It could be a pinhole, or cracked, or busted altogether, but I don't want to make it worse. Still, I would like to fix it. Any help will help.

[Gene]

Not sure what they used to attach the pipe to the tank. Here is where mine was cracked because the PO didn't winterize. Yes, cracked all the way around. I used ABS cement to weld it back together and it is as good as new.

[Steve Collins]

Is all that "sealer gunk" original factory install (unlikely) or do you think a PO put it on there to deal with the same leak that you now have?

If the gunk was put there by a PO, you are going to have to remove it to find out how much of a problem you have. If it is silicone, caulk, or any other patching material, it is definitely not original.

Once you know what the real damage is, there are several threads in Repairs and Maintenance on repairing damage to ABS tanks and piping. All of them use ABS cement and ABS plastic to do the repair. Surprisingly, these repairs to ABS are not difficult. If done properly, quite large repairs can be done with excellent results. It is a little tedious and time consuming, but worth it.

[JohnB]

Rock

Your going to have to get the gunk off to prep for a proper repair. And yes the leak may get bigger but it is not going to go away until it is fixed right. Don't know what they used but possible some small heat from a hair dryer will help soften to allow you to scrape it up. Don't over do it with the heat as the pipe is plastic and the hair dryer can be gentler then a heat gun. If you use the hair dryer be care full of the black under belly plastic. In fact slide a sheet of flashing or tin up there as a heat shield. The heat will shrink the underbelly or worse melt thru.

As Steve said, there are many repair here on the forum using the ABS cement. I have never had to use it yet, (thank goodness...) but many have reconstructed with it.

Using the search function ABS or cement may find a bunch of hits.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

John

[RockDodger]

Well, it feels hard. I'm not going to mess with it now cuz I'm heading out for a 5 dayer on Tuesday. I'll have to tackle it when I get back. We'll see what happens.